Quote Originally Posted by ValiantKnight
Should I play alot of blitzball right now or should I continue the story to find more areas/players?
Focus on the game. The only reason for Blitzball is for Wakka's Ultimate Weapon, a Weaponyou will likely not use until after you beat the game once.

Is there any disadvantage to leveling up my current squad?
Are there any recruitable players right after landing here(right after Luca, the game, and 2 new guardians with swords)?
Not really, but you could miss out on some of the better players, especially Brother (who is a godsend for low level matches). There won't be any majorly recruitable players for the rest of the game. They are either in Luca, or scattered acorss Spira. The teams can be found in certain areas during plot events.
Is there anyway to stay away from the opposing team better to open passing up and stop encounters more, or make my people a little better at handling them?
Not for awhile. You may have to level up before the game becomes any easier. However, Tidus does get a slow speed bonus, but mostly amongst his higher levels.

No offense to any FFX fans, but Tidus... can be highly annoying. Sigh, how much of this do I have to endure?
He's the main character. Take a wild guess.

I'm getting used to the sphere grid, and assume theres no way I can mess it up, which had made me pause before about gaining sphere levels early.
Ohh, no. You can mess up horribly on the Sphere Grid. You'll know how when you DO mess up.
It also has some very corny/trying to be funny moments that just... are not funny. Tidus is just too carefree, corny, and strange. He doesn't take any responsibility or act mature at all most of the time.
Hope Tidus changes later in the game.
Progress some further into the game. Tidus takes on a more mature role, if only for a small part of the game.

The story so far is a little confusing... especially with the somewhat bomb dropped by Auron that Sin is Jecht...
Thats a little hard to think of, but I'm sure it'll be clearer later.
It will be clearer later.